What I have learned in the past month

This is probably meant to be a deep and meaningful topic but it's a wet windy Sunday morning, I am still in bed and my thoughts are not that deep at the moment. Maybe they should be as I prepare for church but sorry - it's not going to happen this morning.

So, what have I learned in the past month?  Probably the most exciting thing is applique.  I am a quilter and always looking for fresh inspiration. Well, applique has interested me for years but I have never had the knowledge to know where or how to start and so I have tended to put it in the "too hard" basket. Not because I have been too scared to try but because there have always been so many other projects on my "to do list" that were achievable quickly.



But one day during the holidays recently, my friend and I spent a day together sewing.  She has done lots of applique work and so under her tuition, I got started. Now I cannot stop!  I have two half completed applique projects on the go.  Both completely different to each and both giving me equal pleasure in the creation.



This shows one of the projects I am working on - ably "assisted" by my two cats



I do not want to add these projects to the other four uncompleted ones so am determined to finish them before starting any more.

Oh, and I have also learned that I am fast becoming the mad cat woman of Wanganui .... I only have two but they dominate much of my conversation and time. Wouldnt be without them!

Something that makes me feel better

I don't have many "blue" days. Thankfully they are few and far between these days and generally I am very contented with my lot. The hardest days are when I have had family or close friends staying - and they leave. All of a sudden the house is empty and quiet again and I feel sad.

So, how do I cope on those days and what makes me feel better? Depending on the weather and what else is going on in my life at the time, I do one or more of the following:

• I put on my favourite CDs and play them really loudly while I strip beds and get the house back to normal.
• I leave everything just as it is, grab my purse and head out for some comfort shopping
• Ring a girlfriend and go out for coffee
• Visit one of my four daughters or my parents

I am at my loneliest when I am sad as there is no one else in the house to share the moment with. But I do have two cats and a dog - and they are pretty good listeners and allow me to cuddle them at the same time.

Other things that make me feel better are the spontaneous texts and phone calls from family and friends, the drop in visits, the invitations out, a beautiful flower.

I have simple needs - the company of those I love (and who love me) is all I need to make me feel better.

I must try harder

You would never know that I love to write - not if this blog is anything to go by. I write all the time in my head but it never seems to take on a written format. Maybe I should have one of those small battery operated dictaphones so that I can at least capture my thoughts as they occur.

I have started walking to work at least one day a week (and sometimes more often) and during the 30 minute walk each way, I compose children's stories, sermons, reflective thoughts and, sometimes, poems and song lyrics. When I find the time to start putting these down in writing, it never comes out the same. I find the shower is also a great place in which to be creative. Why is it that I can present a communion message without notes (speaking from the heart) when I am in the shower but become tongue tied and note reliant when standing in front of the congregation?

Anyway, I digress .... it seems I am not the only one to have writer's block. Number four child has a blog [well, 2 blogs actually] which is really readable and I am going to copy her latest challenge which is designed to help break the blockage. Sorry Hannah - hope you don't mind. I have linked to your first post and hopefully anyone interested will be able to find the rest ...

http://hannahsreductions.blogspot.com/2011/01/boring-blogger.html

So, without further ado, here is blog #1 ... What would be found in my purse?

• Hmmm - lots of discarded till receipts - always kept "just in case" - of what I have no idea. But sure as eggs, as soon as I discard one, I need it!
• My wallet of course plus a small coin purse just in case I want to leave the handbag behind and carry something smaller in my pocket.
• Three sets of keys - my house and car keys, and then keys to offices of both of my jobs.
• Cellphone
• Camera - you just never know when you might need this.
• Makeup bag with medical supplies instead of makeup. Asthma medication, hayfever pills, panadol, throat and cough lozenges, breath fresheners, and eye drops.
• A small notebook - very useful for all sorts of things.
• Pen or two (or three)
• Sometimes there might be a zucchini or other vegetable from my garden - but these of course are not the norm :-)

So very different to what I would have had in there even five years ago. There is no doubt that age determines our purse contents.

Will be back tomorrow with blog #2 - what wouild make me feel better.....